BUSAN -- American master director Oliver Stone said on Friday that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein should not be condemned until he is proven guilty of sexual abuse.

"I'm a believer that you wait until this thing gets to trial," the director said at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival where he is serving as chair of the event's competition jury. "I believe a man shouldn't be condemned by a vigilante system. It's not easy what he's going through, either."

The "Snowden" director then declined to comment further on the incident.

"During that period he was a rival. I never did business with him and didn't really know him. I've heard horror stories on everybody in the business, so I'm not going to comment on gossip. I'll wait and see, which is the right thing to do."

On Thursday, last week, the New York Times reported that the Miramax co-founder is under police probe over allegations that he has sexually harassed or assaulted multiple women for over 30 years and made payments to at least eight victims who complained of unwanted touching, sexual harassment and other misconduct.

Since then, many more women, including actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Lea Seydoux, have raised allegations that they were sexually harassed by Weinstein. He acknowledged the payouts and was fired from the company on Sunday. Many in the film industry forecast that he may receive a heavy sentence if formally indicted on charges of sexual abuse.

The 10-day festival runs till Oct. 21 in South Korea's southern port city of Busan, featuring 300 films from 75 countries around the world. (Yonhap)